A trademark is any word, name, symbol or device used, or intended to be used, in interstate commerce to distinguish the products and services of one company or individual from those of another. In addition to names and logos, trademarks can include any device that distinguishes the source of goods or services. This can include colour (e.g. pink for insulation) or even sounds (e.g., NBC’s chimes).
Trademark Rights
Obtaining the rights in a trade mark means obtaining the right to prevent others from using the same or similar mark on the same or similar products or services.
What Can Be Trademarked?
• A business name, phrase or logo may be registered as a trademark if it is, fanciful, arbitrary or suggestive.
• Fanciful – Fanciful marks are generally marks without a dictionary meaning. Examples include, Exxon and Xerox.
• Arbitrary – Arbitrary marks have nothing to do with the goods or services with which they are associated. Examples include Diesel for clothing and Apple for computers.
Fanciful, arbitrary and suggestive marks are good choices when choosing a potential trademark or service mark
Copyright
Copyright is a form of protection provided by the laws of the United Arab Emirates to the authors of “original works of authorship”, including literary, dramatic, musical, artistic, and certain other intellectual works.
This protection is available to both published and unpublished works. Section 106 of the 1976 Copyright Act generally gives the owner of copyright the exclusive right to do and to do authorize others to do the following:
- To distribute copies of the work to the public by sale or other transfer of ownership, or by rental, lease, or lending;
- To perform the work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, panto mimes, and motion pictures and other audio-visual works;
- To display the copyrighted work publicly, in the case of literary, musical, dramatic, and choreographic works, pantomimes, and pictorial, graphic, or sculptural works, including the individual images of a motion picture and other audio-visual works; and
- In the case of sound recordings, to perform the work publicly by means of a digital audio transmission.
What Works Are Protected?
Copyright protects “original works of authorship” that are fixed in a tangible form of expression. The fixation need not be directly perceptible so long as it may be communicated with the aid of a machine or device. Copyrightable works include the following categories:
• literally works
• musical works, including any accompanying words
• dramatic works, including any accompanying music
• pantomimes and choreographic works
• pictorial, graphic, and sculptural works
• motion pictures and other audio visual works
• sound recordings architectural works
How Long Copyright Protection Endures?
A work that is created (fixed in tangible form for the first time) on or after January 1, 1978, is automatically protected from the moment of its creation and is ordinary given a term enduring for the author’s life plus an additional 70 years after the author’s death.
Documents required for Trademark Registration in UAE
• Application form
• Sample of trademark design (brand name)
• Confirmation of official fee payment
• Trading license
• Power of attorney
• List of goods and services to be protected
• ID or passport of person who will sign application
• Contact details of the applicant
UAE Trademark Certificate Cost
Trademark Registration in UAE is a streamlined process governed by the Ministry of Economy in the UAE. All the new applications for trademark registration is to be submitted online for the approval from the Ministry of Economy via the website.
Applicants must pay the fees and submit the required documents for review and subsequent processing of the Trademark Registration Certificate for your brand assets.
Trademark Registration Process
The first step in registering a trademark is to search for the trademark and ensure it is not already in use. Only after choosing the appropriate assets for the trademark, you can proceed with the registration process.
Submit the required documents along with the trademark registration form to the Ministry of Economy via the website.
Pay the required fees for the initial approval of the trademark registration application form.
Our experts will assist you with document preparation, application form submission, legal translations, and fee payment at this stage.
The Ministry of Economy will evaluate the submitted application form. Any incomplete form or improper documents will result in a rejection. Else, you will receive an initial confirmation about the approval of your trademark registration request.
After the approval from the Ministry, the trademark registration approval letter will be published in two local UAE newspapers. Any objections to the trademark could be notified to the Ministry in 30 days from the publishing.
The Ministry of Economy will further review the status of the Application and issue the Trademark Registration Certificate for your assets.
The certificate will include the registration number, application date, name of the business & the owner, trademark details and description of the assets that received the trademark.
Once the trademark is received, it is valid for 10 years’ subject to renewal post that period for a fee.
The Trademark Registration UAE will enable brands to protect its assets from copying and counterfeiting in the UAE.
The Trademark Registration Certificate can be used as a legal instrument to protect your brand in case of any infringement.
